Low satellite DNA variability in natural populations of Drosophila antonietae involved in different evolutionary...

Drosophila antonietae is a cactophilic species that is found in the mesophilic forest of the Paraná-Paraguay river basin and in the dunes of the South Atlantic coast of Brazil. Although the genetic structure of the Paraná-Paraguay river basin populations has already been established, the relationship between these populations and those on the Atlantic coast is controversial. In this study, we compared 33 repetitive units of pBuM-2 satellite DNA isolated from individuals from 8 populations of D. antonietae in these geographic regions, including some populations found within a contact zone with the closely related D. serido. The pBuM-2 sequences showed low interpopulational variability. This result was interpreted as a consequence of both gene flow among the populations and unequal crossing over promoting homogenization of the tandem arrays. The results presented here, together with those of previous studies, highlight the use of pBuM-2 for solving taxonomic conflicts within the D. buzzatii species cluster.